Barbara J. Hamby

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Whirlwind Tour - October 2005

Today we got most of the pictures we had taken on our trip to California. A few are still in the camera and must wait until we take about 20 more snapshots. The photos make it clear that this journey was almost as much of a whirlwind as our recent European cruise.

We drove to San Jose first for a very short visit with my uncle and on to Death Valley through Ridgecrest, where we stayed one night. We entered D.V. National Park and drove Northeast through Stovepipe Wells, then down through Furnace Creek to Badwater. The elevation at Badwater is 282 feet below sea level. There is a giant salt flat with a small creek running through the front of it. The National Park Service is working very hard to protect the environment in the park. They’ve made improvements in that area since I was there more than twenty years ago.

From Badwater we worked our way Northeast to Beatty, Nevada, where we spent that night. The following day we drove to Scotty’s Castle and toured it. A more detailed report of our sightseeing will follow and be entered in the travel pages on my website. We left Scotty’s Castle, aka Death Valley Ranch, about Noon and headed for the slopes of Mt. Whitney where we drove to the 10,000 foot level. We went back down through all the gorgeous scenery through Lone Pine and on to Big Pine, where we stayed overnight in the shadow of the mountains. At Big Pine, we learned we were just a few miles from Bristle Cone Pine National Park, so naturally, we went up there the next morning. These pines are reputedly around 4,000 years old and grow only in this location.

Back on the road again, we went to Chico and visited an aunt. Tomorrow I’ll share a couple of cute stories about her